A displacement osteotomy procedure may be performed to correct misalignment of bones and joints. This technique is often used in the calcaneus when heel valgus or varus conditions are present, which are frequently associated with pes planus, i.e., flat foot, or with pes cavus, i.e., high arch foot. For such conditions, a displacement osteotomy is used for medializing for flatfoot or lateralizing for pes cavus to enable a surgeon, or other qualified person, to reposition the heel and realign it with the longitudinal axis of the tibia, eventually leading to correction of the associated foot deformity. Stepped osteosynthesis clips are often used for performing osteosynthesis in connection with these procedures. These stepped clips are often in the form of a staple having an offset crown or base and a pair of opposing legs or flanges extending from the crown. Stepped staples allow for quick and easy bone fixation, are minimally invasive, and have low complication rates. FIG. 1 is an example of the use of stepped staples. In this example, two staples 1 have been inserted into adjacent anterior and posterior portions 3, 4 of a severed calcaneus bone. As shown, the posterior portion 4 of the bone is offset.
Superelastic staples made of nitinol alloy have been in use for more than two decades in the orthopaedic field. Typically, these staples are in a normally closed position when no constraints, such as external forces or temperature changes, are applied. Thus, forceps or clamps that apply and maintain a load to the legs of an osteosynthesis clip until the legs are in an open, generally parallel, position are commonly used to insert these staples into pre-drilled holes during an osteotomy procedure. One example of these types of forceps is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,137,351, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Current designs of clamps for osteosynthesis staples are adaptable to different widths of the crowns and lengths of the legs of staples. However, current forceps are not designed for use with clips having an offset crown.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a device that is operable with stepped osteosynthesis clips having an offset crown.